Awaiting _____ diagnosis

To be fair, 1400000/419969= 3.33 so that is a third.

You work in a school and are surprised by this?! I'm guessing you're not a teacher then.
Although most of the support staff, I would say, where I work, are fully aware that masking and mis-diagnosis (e.g. anxiety being a common diagnosis given when it should be autism), amongst other things, account for late diagnoses. Or they could be like my parents, who (wrongly, admittedly) worried it would simply label me and set me apart from my peers.
I didn't get any extra support in education until I started my Masters degree, after being formally diagnosed as autistic.

I agree with this. This is a very eloquent explanation of what may be going on.

No it isn’t. I work in a primary with SEN figures a lot higher than the national average. We don’t have this.

Even if we did we wouldn’t resent the children or dismiss their struggles.

Ha! Fuck off.

You’re showing yourself up, OP. You’re making unfounded assumptions based on dots on a sheet, and zero medical knowledge. Does the dot spell out somewhere exactly who is “awaiting diagnosis” or “awaiting assessment” and who is audaciously just wanting extra time in exams for their kids? You really can’t just say ‘I think my kid is autistic’ without evidence to support this, if you want any help at all for your child. Go to the SEN threads and see how people with children who have significant (and even diagnosed!) challenges, are having to fight tooth and nail for every little tiny thing.

You’re as ignorant as these people who think everyone just asks for higher rate DLA for a sore finger and then gets handed a ‘FREE CAR’. I hope you’re working nowhere near my kids, you need to have a word with yourself, you’re petty and ill informed and shouldn’t be spreading it around.

I think I know what you mean. My friend is a primary teacher and has 15 in a class of 29 who are listed as having adhd/autism or on the assessment pathway. When 50% of the class are all behaving the same way, is it neurodivergence or is it the new normal?

This is a generation of children, many of whom had a lack of socialisation during lockdown, many relied on screens while parents were working during lockdown, many have screens constantly and have never experienced the boredom of a long jouney without one. All of this is bound to have an effect on children. Perhaps there is a national shift and teachers need to deal with a new baseline of children. Alternatively, perhaps many parents spent more time with their children during lockdown and noticed more adhd/autistic traits in their children because they were seeing them more than if they had been away from them at school/work for 7/8 hours.

Whatever the reason, there is obviously a surge and that is shown by the waiting lists for assessments.

In my DS's class (age 7) it does seem that there are more children with tools/strategies/interventions than those without. There are 5 in the class with wobble cushions, another 3 with chewy things, 4 who do additional movement breaks, 3 who wear ear defenders, 1 who arrives late/leaves early to avoid the chaos of the other children arriving and leaving... probably more things less visible that I don't know about.

I don't know what the answer is, but I think that your class of 17 probably IS reflective of the wider population, it will just take a while for the statistics to catch up.

Where we live, the waiting list for an NHS assessment for children is now more than 4 years. They will not allow you to join the waiting list unless you are almost certainly likely to have a diagnosis following multiple pre-assessment checks. While schools acknowledge private diagnoses (if they follow NHS procedures) they are not in our area (Cardiff) accepted until you have gone through the NHS neurodevelopmental pathway (this includes adults and young people diagnosed through the NHS in England who move here to study at uni according to our GP). We have a private diagnoses from the same consultant we will see on the NHS, but it cannot be accepted until we have been assessed again (exactly same forms and process, exactly same doctor) when we get to the top of the waiting list in 6 months to a year's time.

It is for situations like ours that many schools will put this down.

It's not so much medical knowledge in this case as it's needing an awareness of logistics.

The work involved to evidence ordinary ways of working, to go through various screenings, assorted trials of management and referral for assessment is considerable for each child. Beyond the most severely affected children who need things done formally immediately, focus has to be where it is most critical - the GCSE years - so getting everything in order in Year 10 ready for access arrangements to be identified and Form 8s submitted with

' ● the history of difficulties, for example, with the development of literacy skills; ● the results of screening tests; ● individual education/learning plans in place for the candidate; ● school reports; ● pupil tracking data; ● information reported by subject teachers and/or support staff. '

and then approved by the JCQ, recorded and stored suitably not just for day to day use but for the inevitable JCQ inspections during the exams season, is a massive task.

Once Year 10 are done with any late/missed previously Year 11s dealt with as quickly as humanly possible, the 7s, 8s and 9s with less severe presentations are handled. But with the numbers in any school, staffing, assessment and time constraints mean that it's less likely that the 7/8/9s will be dealt with quickly. This causes a spike in SEND recording in Year 10 by itself, completely separately from any increase due to hormones, puberty, social or emotional aspects.

Where are you getting these statistics from? They are at odds with the official government statistics.

In the academic year 23/24, there were 1.4 million candidates taking exams in the 2023 to 2024 academic year. 419,960 has 25% extra time. 7,625 had more than 25% extra time.

Or are you misunderstanding the statistics? 67.2% of access arrangements approved (rather than of all candidates) were for 25% extra time, 1.2% for more than 25% extra time.

You can see the actual statistics here.

I agree OP.

You're a TA, you don't know anything about data and figures, be so for real!

Go get a degree in the medical field and be involved in some research into these types of diagnoses, then come and tell us you think people are lying.

FO!

I think a lot of people don't realise that

1 in 3 kids now get extra time in exams.

1 in 3.

Its not a high bar to get it access to that extra time if a third of all kids do. Its also going to dilute the benefit it has for those who need that time the most, if there are children who need it less who get it.

My Dr and therapist were so convinced that I have ADHD that they put me forward for ADHD therapies. I was being treated in 3 weeks. It was life changing.

But I'm still on the list to be officially diagnosed 3 years later.

What's ridiculous is that we've come to a point where the waiting lists are so short for treatment, but so long for diagnosis. Would you rather these kids just survive in limbo til a diagnosis is given?

My Dr said to just put that I have ADHD on all medical forms from now on.

Yanbu. Too high a proportion of parents think their child's struggles are beyond the norm, if everyone has "additional needs" no one does (ifyswim). If we are getting to the point where the majority of children apparently aren't having their needs met without extra support it probably implies that:

• the expectations on children in schools are not consistent with what's developmentally normal for most children based on historical standards
• societal/parental factors are impacting on children's development such that they cannot meet expectations that used to be considered normal for age without additional support/adjustments
• the threshhold for what people consider as a level of difference/impairment warranting intervention has fallen too low to be meaningful.

I suspect there is some mix of all three happening.

Wondering if you’re my child’s teacher. She’s formally diagnosed as autistic is on a very long waiting list for adhd assessment (after us having to undergo a long pre-assessment process including in person and zoom meetings) has been her entire time at the school and refused exam adjustments because she seemed fine to the “self diagnosed expert” in ASN.

Now were going to have to have multiple communications with the school justifying her need for support because some idiot with an opinion on how she should appear or behave in public gets to decide whether or not she gets help based on their own prejudices.

people like OP shouldn’t be allowed near kids in an educational setting holding such judgmental attitudes

Thanks. Exactly that. The admin staff in DD's school are great. I'm sure they aren't writing judgemental, shitty posts on MN aboutthe SEN kids.

I'm saying these aren't glaring. OP, where did you get your medical degree from? Because assessment is because you CAN'T tell just looking.

Given that for autism and ADHD the diagnostic percentage is somewhere between less than 2 and 4% in the uk population, and given that women are likely to be diagnosed with either of these either in their teenage years or adulthood compared to male peers, so we're quite far off 51% although I do think the statistics could be higher when considering the undiagnosed or on pathway figures, though not by such a significant amount.

Children with SEN may or may not be ND, many may have other disabilities, needs, trauma, or may have these as comorbidities to their SEN, and so I would expect the overall school population with SEN to be higher.

Neurodivergence also covers any other neurological disability whether that's dyslexia, dyspraxia, epilepsy, ptsd etc which widens the pool of ND%.

Absence of a formal diagnosis is not an absence of need or condition and help should not be reserved for the lucky or privileged who have managed to secure a diagnosis.

There is a lack of available support for SEND children and the more children that need that support the more thinly it is stretched but that does not make any of these children less deserving it means there isn't sufficient funding or resource. Proactive support should be offered to children before significant mental health struggles occur.

In this instance the OP isn't qualified to judge who should have that support.

I use this phrase to describe my daughter otherwise they treat her like any other kid. To be fair the school are very sympathetic towards her when she struggles

None of that is the OP's problem though is it, they aren't SLT.

Sounds like SLT is doing a reasonable job.

Support is offered without diagnosis & quite rightly so. I think sometimes people find it easier to understand at a glance suspected autism over a list of support needs so possibly why it says what it does. My DD has had an initial assessment with camhs, they've agreed she has autistic traits. The waiting time will be years. She feels she is autistic & I agree. We do say awaiting diagnosis. People have more patience when they understand why support is needed. At my DD high school something like 60% have ASN. Sometimes the separate room is to benefit unaffected students as well. DD has a bowel condition & would potentially disrupt the exam for everyone by going to the toilet multiple times.

@Bozzul in the kindest possible way, as the mother of a child who was diagnosed with ADHD aged 17, after developing anxiety and depression which led to self harm and about whom no school ever raised a concern because she was high functioning and well parented, may I gently suggest that you raise your concerns with the professionally qualified class teacher or your school's senior leadership team. They will be able to advise and support you rather better than MNet.

When my DC were at school the TA's remit was to intervene about a lost Jersey or a grazed knee. Not educational achievement or clinicial need. Hopefully it has stayed that way.

I think it would unlikely 17 of 30 children are genuinely neuro diverse. Surely it delays the diagnosis of those in the greatest need of support if over 50% of children (going by these numbers) are waiting for an assessment.

@Bozzul you'd be spitting feathers if you knew that my DD3, who had no diagnosis at all, was given as much time as she wanted in the SEN block, her own area in the SEN space, allowed to leave class whenever she wanted, mock exams in her own room and allowed to do the exams as soon as she arrived at school instead of following the exam timetable, then allowed to go home straight after. She was allowed complete non-attendance without sanctions. Then the LA gave her a place at an independent special school where she gets a bespoke timetable with 1:1 teaching at all times. All the while, no diagnosis, just 'awaiting assessment/diagnosis'.

She's since been diagnosed with OCD (6 month wait for assessment, no treatment yet), and her ASD assessment was almost 2 weeks ago (no result yet) after a 2 year wait).

If kids have needs, it just isn't practical to wait for a diagnosis before giving the support they need.

Support in schools is based on needs, not diagnosis.